


Over Mountain, Over Sea

by lakemonsters



Category: Eyeshield 21
Genre: Attraction, Doubt, M/M, Melancholy, Progress in relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-15
Updated: 2013-11-15
Packaged: 2018-01-01 15:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1045749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lakemonsters/pseuds/lakemonsters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Day after day, you practice with him. You throw tantrums and he tries to be patient. He throws tantrums and you seek shelter in your teammates company until it passes. Months fly by and the Everest Pass goes through another permutation and becomes the Twin Tower Arrow. You like that name because it sounds more like a partnership than it is a technique. It's like two mountain peaks that see each other from across the seas, despite the distance, despite an ever changing world, they never lose sight of one another."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Over Mountain, Over Sea

_You hit the ground running, soon you feel the after effects of being called the new one. The best of the new ones. You un-sheath your sword and wave it around with seemingly calculated prowess and you anticipate the attack. Your horse has stopped galloping and broke down to a slight trot before stopping and investing in a meal of green grass and brook water. You continue looking around and you can feel him coming - that slight shiver in your bones - the jiggling of muscle under facial skin. Yes, you are Galahad anticipating Lancelot's attack. Waiting...until you feel a blow that's stronger than anything you've ever felt before. All the calculations and anticipation did nothing and you fall to the ground, dislodged by noisy hooves. And all you can really hear before you pass out is -- "Too slow!" And the last person you see is Percival running towards you, eyes worried and mouth pursed in a line of concentration._

 

 

"Sakuraba, please listen to what I am saying it's very important." 

You look at Takami and smile that disarming smile of yours, scratch the back of your head and apologize without really saying the words. Your eyes wander to Takami's hands and slightly frown at the orange and blue gel pens that he's holding. Takami likes illustrating some of his better ideas, right now he is telling you about this pass that will decimate all passes. 

Something that can challenge even Agon and Unsui's Dragonfly Play. 

You frown a little because the gel pens are sparkly and then you look at Takami because Takami is not really one for sparkly gel pens of doom. "Don't judge me. They were the only ones left in the stock room." 

Takami is always good-natured and he's always got that smile ready for you. He's not once made you feel that you were less than he is. And so you nod and smile once more even if you know that the smile will no longer work on him and he's waiting for you to come back down to earth and listen to him. And so thoughts of the new contract and TV offer take a back seat and you are once again with Takami, in that abandoned classroom at this odd hour of the night. You feel hungry but say nothing.

"We'll eat after this, promise, if you listen this'll get done in no time."

And so you nod. "Alright, I'm listening."

"Okay, I was thinking about utilizing your height and mine for this one pass that I'm trying to develop."

 

Takami lied to you and it takes him a few hours to relay to you fully the pass: its relevance, why it suits the both of you, how it fits in the Oujo gameplay and the ways it will benefit the sense of wholeness of the team. 

You nod and try to be as graceful as possible, you look in his eyes and tell him that it's a good idea. In all honesty, you can indeed see yourself executing the plan. You can see yourself become useful to Takami and the team and you know that somehow it can be of good use to your self-esteem as an athlete. 

You gaze at him long enough to get his attention - Takami is intuitive and observant, after all. He smiles at you and his smile is heavy, a world of secrets and unspoken details held back by a careful mouth. He adjusts his glasses and bites his lower lip in concentration. 

"What is it?"

"Nothing, really, it's just that..."

"You're hungry? I'm sorry. I got permission and we can have something delivered to the dorm."

"No, no it's nothing like that..."

"Then what is it?"

You glance back down at his hands, a little bit larger than yours and then you glance at his knees and then back to the table where the gel pens are haplessly laying and the tube almost empty.

"Just...thanks. You know."

"I don't know. What do you mean?" 

Takami's always been an honest person, you can see the slight hint of irritation on his lips as he looks at you because he cannot understand what you are saying. You know he understands you so it must be frustrating for him to not be able to understand the words you have just said. He carefully favors the injured leg of his and sits in a relaxed position, almost slouching.

"I mean, thank you. For including me in a play. This pass. It sounds very important. I know that so few people are willing to take a chance on me to include me in specific game plans. Let alone an important one." You can't remember the last time you talked so much, you cannot remember conversing with anyone like this and you think back to all those lonely limo rides from the studio back to Oujo and realize that you always leave behind the one person you can really talk to. You think that all the dramatic scripts and spiels must be getting to you. Takami looks unaffected smiles and you know he understands you. 

"I think that you shouldn't think about such things and just concentrate on your improvement as a player. We've all come from that place, to struggle for acknowledgment and wonder just when our time will come." He gives you a knowing look, a mock frown and another smile. "You see, Sakuraba, I have been waiting for someone like you to come along."

You feel your insides flip flop and you know that part of your face is red. 

The point behind Takami is interesting enough that you concentrate on that and in all honesty, you just do not know how to take that. You understand that Takami is one of the tallest players in the league, you've always known that Takami finds your height an advantageous compliment to his and you know that he's talking about the game. But that's what saddens you as well. It is knowing that he's always been waiting for someone like you. And maybe you'll wait forever for that time when he'll say something similar, a more personal reprise of the statement.

"I kind of know that. Coach told me that my height was one of the factors that you considered." You don't want to talk all of a sudden so you stand up and look at him. "I think I'd want to eat pizza you know, some salad too. Let's order. I'll pay." You have lots of money after all and this sport is just something your manager thinks, is something you need to get out of your system.

"We have a budget for that so you don't have to." Takami says as he stands up beside you and rises to his full height. It's not everyday that you find someone in this country that's taller than you are, you look up and his profile is wonderful. He could be an actor, just like you. But you quickly debate with yourself and wonder if Takami will ever tolerate the incessant idiocy in that business. The thought makes you chuckle, it makes Takumi frown as he's looking at you.

"There you go again. What's so funny?"

"You are." You say and earn a light bap of the rolled up sheets on your head.

 

"That is the third time that Shin's passed the corridors. Is he really allowed to run around like that even at this hour?" You take another bite of pizza and look at Takami who is busy looking through your modeling portfolio carefully as if analyzing each picture. "Hey, Takami did you hear me?"

The room you share with Takami in this dorm is comfortable and warm, the scent of freshly baked dough and crispy greens, add to the homey feeling it already possesses. He contemplates your earlier question and goes back to his salad. 

"Let him be. If it wasn't raining this hard he'd be outside and running around the field. It's just part of his process, I guess. Shin is always going to be this way." And just like clockwork they hear Shin run past their door, sneezing in the process.

You look at Takami and Takami looks at you - and there is laughter to be shared. It's one of those moments that everyone wants to treasure. An unaffected break from time itself without care, without worry, without reason. You want to pocket and run away with it to the best of your ability. But Takami is sitting, planted so tightly in reality, it's kind of frustrating. 

"Do you want more pizza?" You ask. He shakes his head and somehow you already know that would be his answer. But you make an effort to transfer to his bed, sit beside the taller boy and stare at his immovable profile. "Are you always so analytical and calculated?"

He looks at you, "Yeah. It's part of my process." You look at him and you're suddenly tired so you lean on him a little.

"Are you okay?" Takami asks.

"Yeah. I'm just unraveling." You say quietly.

"I see." He does not look at you, you can feel this, he remains seated, strong enough to support you with his hands on his lap, twiddling long fingers.

"It's part of my process." You finally say as you close your eyes. 

You feel a brush of something soft against your short hair and you imagine that it's his lips, you venture into touching his wrist and go a little higher, holding on to his forearm. "I'll try my best. So you get what you want." You are talking about that plan, that pass that Takami was talking about earlier. 

 

You hit the ground running, scrambling to find that perfect spot to receive the pass. You are well aware that Shin is on your heels and he's going to take you down without remorse if you let him. This is practice, a mock-trial to see if the Everest Pass is indeed going to work. You pivot and plant your leg, holding out an arm that goes on for miles, waiting for Takami. The whole point of the chase is lost the moment you think of Takami. It's not receiving the pass that's most important, it's being sound enough, open enough to receive it. You forget about Shin for a fraction of a second - and that was your biggest mistake. 

You feel as if you've been hit by a bus and the you feel like you are flying, all you can really hear is someone saying "Too careless!" and the last thing you see is Takami running to you, his usually controlled face distorted by worry.

Takami looks at you from across the field as he tries to run faster, damn the injury and this body that slows down his will, everytime. 

He knows it's all about team work, he's got his eyes on you, he reads you, feels you. Takami puts his heart into it, fight invisible wars so he can get to you. It starts becoming a little scary when things that aren't so serious transforms into something very important. Takami stretches to pass and as the football is released he watches like a car crash waiting to happen. 

Takami knows you stopped because you wanted to receive his pass, he knows that you made the mistake on purpose to make up for his lack of speed. A sacrifice that Takami knows hang so heavily in between. It's pure horror when he watches you fall and there are things you can only mouth, never explain when things go wrong. He knows he is the last thing you see before you pass out.

 

The walls of the clinic are pale blue. 

Something to break the monotony says the nurse as she converses with Takami. He is at your bedside, already in his school uniform, looking placid and unbreakable. When he notices you stir, he looks at you and smiles gently. The nurse however looks at you with a marveled smile. The school and celebrity idol - injured but now he has come back to life. She quietly reprimands him for such a brazen mistake. 

"I told her part of what happened." Takami tells you once the nurse has left.

"I know it's embarrassing and I am truly sorry for..."

"Stop being sorry. We're all here to support Shin and each other. NO game plan will work if we don't do our part. So if I make a mistake, let me make it. Coddling me isn't supporting me, Sakuraba." He cuts you off and you see that part of his frustration is with the way you always perceive yourself and your role in the team. He cuts you off because it always has to be the big picture when in fact it's just about the two of you. You look away and curl your fingers on the clean white linen covering your torso. 

"What's it doing to you, then?"

"It's killing me." 

He's looking straight at you with those eyes - sharp, beautiful and angry. You look back at him until you can take no more and then you look away. You are surprised to feel a hand on your shoulder. 

"Like you, I just want to be a good football player..." Takami quietly says this before he stands up and looks at you. "I'll help you to our room, you can't stay here overnight." You nod and though you have doubts you take his hand and let him pull you up, on your feet, forward - always forward, until you are in his arms.

"Takami..."

He's so close that you think you're in a movie set or something, you are waiting for the magic words "cut!" or "that's a wrap!" and it never comes so you do the next best thing and let it all go. Despite his injury Takami is strong and despite your close-to-perfect condition you are not always so. 

Takami only moves away when he hears the nurse comeback, but he doesn't let go of you after that, while you make your way back to the dorms and even after. Takami holds you through the night and you let him, he is your knight and you are his. It's a little romantic take on this whole matter and you tell yourself to cut down on all the fantasy scripts you accept from your manager.

 

Weeks fly by and the pass that Takami envisions is perfected. 

Day after day, you practice with him. You throw tantrums and he tries to be patient. He throws tantrums and you seek shelter in your teammates company until it passes. Months fly by and the Everest Pass goes through another permutation and becomes the Twin Tower Arrow. You like that name because it sounds more like a partnership than it is a technique. It's like two mountain peaks that see each other from across the seas, despite the distance, despite an ever changing world, they never lose sight of one another. 

Still, you have tantrums and he tries to be patient -- and back again.

 

When things fall through and Takami gives up his leadership to Shin, you watch him hold his own and walk gallantly to somewhere private. Then you listen to him break down. You hesitate for a while and part of you is scared to see Takami at his worst. But then you remember your own personal crisis and the way Takami waited for you, held up that umbrella under torrential rain. At that moment you ask yourself - 'Haruto Sakuraba, now who's waiting for what?'

You stand behind Takami, looking at him through the mirror and say nothing. When he notices you, he looks up and wipes his eyes. You think he's beautiful even in his break down and you start of with "Ichiro..." -- 

he does not let you finish, he turns around and pulls you closer with one long arm, he kisses your hair and holds you, holds on to you. And for once you want to be the one that makes a difference, so you try to think of something witty to say, but he beats you to it.

"I was waiting for you."

Yeah, it wasn't the perfect moment to do so, you know that and still you smile and then he smiles and then you realize that you're holding on to him as well. A kiss follows and it is nothing like the passing and accidental kisses that you've shared with Takami. 

There is no cloak of darkness of night or an excuse of lightning and thunder, it's just a kiss, a deep, seething kiss that burrows under your skin and makes your skin feel like it's moving against waves. You grab at Takami's shirt and demand more. More.

 

No one moves when Shin comes in, no one moves when Shin pretends he saw nothing and closes the door again. 

"He'll get over it, right?" You ask, hoping that the two of you did not just traumatize the star of the team. "He will." Takami says quietly.

"I was thinking that I'm really quitting. No more commercials or movies or guesting on shows. I mean a total retirement from the business unlike before where I just cut down on the projects." You squeeze Takami's elbows as you speak. The only answer he gives you is for you to do what will make you happy. Part of him has given up trying to keep Sakuraba in the field now that he is no longer going to play. 

Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.

But you like it in a way - because now you see what's behind bigger pictures and scenarios and it's good to see that it's just the two of you. Confidently, you answer. "That's exactly what I am doing."

* * *

_When Galahad wakes up Percival is next to him, a lantern burning close by. "You're going to be alright, boy..." He says "you're going to be alright."_


End file.
